Tensioning spider for deep-well turbines



Aug. 15, 1933. A. HoLLANDER TENSIONING SPIDER FOR DEEP WELL TURBINES Filed Jan. 4, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 15, 1933. A. HoLLANDl-:R

TENSIONING SPIDER FOR DEEP WELL TURBINES Filed Jan. 4, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 s f 0700 Z l n n n s i 5 Patented Aug. l5, 1933 UNITED STATES TENSIONING SPIDER FOR DEEP-WELL TURBINES Aladar Hollander, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to Byron Jackson Co., Los Angeles, Calif., a Corporation of Delaware Application January 4, 1 932. Serial No. 584,645

4 Claims.

5 a shaft which extends to the top of the well and is driven by a suitable prime mover such as an electric motor.

In turbine pumps of this type it is common practice to encase the pump shaft within a tubular member (termed the inner column) which supports the shaft bearings and carries the lubricating oil to them. The inner column is encased in a second tubular member of larger diameter, termed the outer column. The outer column is' constructed of heavy pipe so that it maintains itself straight by its inherent rigidity. The inner colunm on the other hand is not su'lciently stiff to maintain itself and the shaft perfectly straight. In order to keep the inner column centered in the outer column it is therefore the practice to provide a series of spider guides which are secured to the outer column by attaching them to the couplings between consecutive sections. The spider guides t about the inner column and serve to center it with respect to the outer column. If no special precautions were taken to prevent bending or buckling of the inner column, it would be necessary to space the spider guides from 12 to 18 feet apart. However, it`

has been found that by supporting part or all of the weight of 'the inner column from the top so that the column is in tension, Ythe spider guides can be separated from 50 to 70 feet apart.

During the assembly of deep-well turbines the pump is fastened to the lowermost section of the outer column and lowered into the well, the outer column supporting the pump casing and being in turn suspended from the well head by a suitable clamp. Thus, the outer column is always in tension during assembly and there is no tendency for it to buckle. The inner column and shaft, however, rest on the top of the pump casing, which is suspended on the outer column, and are in compression during assembly, the inner column oniy being placed in tension from the top of the well aft-er the assembly has been completed.

It has been observed that during the assembly of turbines in very deep wells, say, in Wells over 200 feet deep, the weight of the inner column and shaft is so great that the inner column and shaft tend to buckle, the ordinary spider guides 50 to feet apart being-insufficient to maintain them in alignment.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for keeping the inner column of a (Cl. 10S-102) deep-well turbin pump in tension during assem- `bly to prevent its buckling.

Another object is to provide for adjustments of the amount of support given the inner column at different points throughout its length.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means for resiliently supporting the inner column at one or more points in its length.

Still another object is to provide means for adjusting the length of the outer column to 05 cause it to correspond with the length of the inner column.

A full understanding of the invention and the method of attaining the above objects can best be had from the following detailed description of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing a complete column assembly and its relation to the pump; and 75 Figures 2, 3 and 4 are detail sectional views through the column.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional detail view in the plane 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a deepwell turbine pump assembly that comprises a pump casing 26, within which are mounted impellers, and an outer column 9 which extends from the top of the pump casing to the surface of the ground. The impellers within the pump casing 26 are rotated by a driving shaft extending up through the column 9 and connected at the top of the column to shaft 1 of a driving motor. In operation the pump casing 26 is usually submerged in the liquid to be pumped, which nds its way into the pump casing through a strainer 28 and is forced by the pump up through the outer column 9 and discharged through a discharge pipe 3a connected to. an elbow 3 at the top of the column.

Since the present invention is not concerned with the particular construction of the pump or the motor for driving it, the description will be limited to the column means extending from the m0 pump upward through the well to the surface of the ground.

The detail sectional Views in Figures 2, 3 and 4, show the upper, intermediate, and lower sections, respectively, of the column.

The outer column is formed of sections 9 of heavy pipe. The uppermost section is attached by straight threads at its upper end to a top adjusting flange 6 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the elbow 3, and the lowermost section no is attached by tapered threads at its lower end to a top casing flange 25 on the pump casing 26. The various sections 9 of the outer column are secured together either by spider coupling members 16 or 21, or plain couplings 20. The spider coupling members 16 and 21 will be described more fully and their operation explained later.

The motor shaft 1, which may be driven by any suitable prime mover (not shown), is supported within the elbow 3 by an upper shaft bearing 4 which forms a coupling between a nipple 2 extending upward to a stuf'iing box (not shown), and an inner column 5. A short distance below the upper shaft bearing 4, the motor shaft 1 is attached by a threaded coupling 7 to a column shaft 8 which extends down through the well and is connected at its lower end to the shaft 23 of the pump by a threaded coupling 22. .The column shaft 8 is formed in sections which are also connected together by being threaded into shaft coupling members 7. The shaft 8 is supported laterally by bearings 10 and 10a to be de-I scribed later. Since the shaft runs freely in these bearings, it is given only lateral support by them and is free to move up or down with respect thereto. f

The bearings 10 and 10a are positioned at sufiiciently frequent intervals along the shaft 8 to prevent it from buckling due to its own weight and also to prevent vibration of the shaft when the pump is working and unbalance develops due to the unbalance of the irnpellers.

The inner column is formed in sections 5 which are connected together by the coupling bearings 10 and 10a. The weight of this column is sup ported by the coupling members l0, and the lowermost section thereof is attached to a top case bearing 24 on the pump, by screw threads as shown in Figure 4.

As previously indicated, the inner column 5 is guided by plain spider-couplings 21 in the outer column 9 and is maintained in tension by supporting it near the top and/or various other points from special spider couplings 16 in the outer column. The apparatus for thus-supporting the inner column will now be described.

Referring to Figure 2, the upper bearing coupling 10, which is secured between adjacent sections of the inner column 5 by straight threads, is provided with a shoulder 10c extending beyond the outer circumference of the column sections 5. The outer surface of this shoulder 10c is provided with straight threads and a tensioning nipple l1, provided with straight threads on its inner circumference, is screwed thereon. The vertical position of the nipple 11 relative to the coupling member 10 may be altered by screwing it up or down thereon. Surrounding the section 5 of the inner column immediately below the bearing coupling 10 is an upper spring washer 13 which iits loosely about the inner column so that it is guided thereby but is free to move up and down with respect thereto. Positioned immediately below the washer 13 and supporting it and the inner column 5 is a compression spring 14 which is supported by a lower washer 15 similar to the upper washer 13 and which rests upon a collar 18 surrounding the inner column 5 and rigidly attached by radial arms 17 to the spider coupling 16.

Spider coupling 16 has tapered threads at its upper end to receive the tapered threads in the lower end of the outer column section 6 there above, but is provided with straight threads on its lower inner circumference whiclr engage with straight threads on the upper end of the section of the outer column immediately therebelow. It is thus apparent that the inner column 5 is supported through the coupling bearing 10, the

tensioning nipple 11, the spring washer 13, spring 14, spring washer 15, and the spider coupling 16, from the outer column.

In Figure 1, three spider coupling members 16 are shown, but the exact number used depends on the depth of the well. These coupling elements may each resiliently support the inner column by means of a spring 14 as described, or some of them may be non-resilient couplings. The construction of such a non-resilient coupling is shown in Figure 3, in which the elements corresponding to the elements shown in Figure 2 bear the same reference numerals. It will be noted that the construction is identical with that in Figure 2 except that the spring washers 13 and 15, and the coil spring 14, have been eliminated, the tensioning nipple 11 resting directly upon the collar 18 of the spider coupling. However, in each case the amount of tension in the inner column may be adjusted by screwing the spider coupling 16 up or down with respect to the outer column section immediately therebelow.

The vertical position of the elbow 3 with respect to the inner column 5 may be adjusted by screwing the top adjusting fiange' up or down on the straight threaded upper end of the outer column which supports it, this adjustment, of 105 course, being made before the elbow 3 is bolted in place, or at least before the lateral pipe 3a is attached to the elbow. During such adjustment the column 9 may be supported by means of a pipe clamp. The position of the top adjusting flange 6 may be fixed with respect to the outer column section by means of a lock nut. Likewise, the position of the special spider coupling 16 with respect to the straight threaded outer column sections upon which it screws may be fixed by tightening lock nuts 19.

Although the exact dimensions of the sections of column and shafting are not fixed, it is found convenient to make each section 12 feet long.

In addition to the adjustable spider coupling members 16, additional non-adjustable centering and guiding spider coupling 'members 21 are used, these latter being spaced 50 to '70 feet apart, and being provided with rubber bushings 21d to cushion the limer column and prevent vibration. Similar rubber bushing 16a are provided in the collars of the adjustable spider coupling member 16.

As previously indicated, a pump of the type described is assembled in the well by lowering it on the outer column, the latter being held at the surface of the ground, as by a common pipe clamp, which both supports the outer column and prevents it from rotating, while additional sections of outer column, inner column, and column shaft are screwed into place. Since the adjustable spider coupling members 16 are positioned at sufficiently frequent intervals to break the inner column and shafting into lengths short enough that they do not tend to buckle badly, there is no opportunity for the inner column to buckle during assembly. Thus, as the pump is being lowered into the well, the inner column is supported from the pump casing only to the 145 point of the lowermost spider coupling 16. When this spider coupling is placed on the outer column it is adjusted to carry part or all of the weight of the inner column extending from that point down to the pump, thus placing it in ten- 150 vsion and eliminating all possibility of sagging or buckling. Thereafter, as the pump is lowered into the well, the sections of inner column above the lowermost adjustable spider coupling 16 are supported from that point instead of from the pump casing. Before the length of this inner column above the lower adjustable coupling is siiicient to cause trouble, the next adjustable coupling is installed and adjusted to place the inner column therebelow in tension. This process is continued until the pump is in its proper position in the well. It will be obrved that by the method described, there is never a section of inner column greater in length than the distance between the adjustable spider couplings 16. in compression at any time.

The special resilient supporting means disclosed in Figure 2 is preferably used at the top of the column although it may be used in other positions. In practice, it is usually desirable to place a greater tension on the top section of the inner column than on the lower section. The tension applied can be exactly ilxed by testing the spring in advance and compressing it to a predetermined length by adjusting the nipple 11 along the bearing coupling 11 and/or adjusting the spider coupling 16 along the section of outer column 9 extending therebelow.

The use of the spring 14 provides another advantage in that minor motions of the inner and outer columns are possible without materially inuencing the loading of the inner column, which is not the case when the connections are solid and without elasticity.

Although the invention has been described particularly with reference to deep well turbine pumps, it may be utilized in other deep-well pumps utilizing an operating shaft guided by bearings in an inner column that is in turn supported from an outer column. The invention is, therefore, limited only as defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. A deep-well pump assembly comprising a pump adapted to be positioned within the well, a pump shaft extending upward from said pump to the top of the well, an outer tubular column surrounding said shaft and attached at its lower end to said pump, an inner tubular column also surrounding said shaft and positioned within said outer column, spaced bearing members in said inner column for laterally supporting said shaft, a plurality of vertically spaced supporting structures between said inner and outer columns for vertically supporting the inner column from the outer column, one ,of said supporting structures comprising a spring for resiliently supporting the inner column from the outer column, and another of said supporting structures including a member vertically adjustable with respect to said outer column.

2. A deep-well pump assembly comprising a pump adapted to be positioned within a well. a pump shaft extending upward from said pump, an outer tubular column surrounding said shaft for supporting said pump from the top of the well, said column being formed of sections, outer coupling members between said sections, one of said outer coupling members being vertically adjustable with respect to the outer column section therebelow, an inner tubular column also surrounding said shaft and formed in sections, inner coupling members joining said inner column sections, a spider formed in one of said outer coupling members having a shoulder surrounding said inner column, means foil supporting one of said inner coupling members from said shoulder, whereby at least part of the weight of said inner column below said shoulder is carried by said outer column through said coupling members, and a plurality of bearing members within said inner column for centering said shaft therein.

3. A deep-well pump assembly comprising a pump adapted to be positioned within a well, a pump shaft extended upward from said pump, an outer tubular column surrounding said shaft for supporting said pump from the top of the well, said column being formed of sections, outer coupling members between said sections, one of said outer coupling members being vertically adjustable with respect to the outer column section therebelow, an inner tubular column also surrounding said shaft and formed in sections, inner coupling members joining said inner column sections, said adjustable outer coupling member having a shoulder surrounding said inner column, means for supporting one of said inner coupling members from said shoulder whereby at least a part of the weight of said inner column below said shoulder is rigidly supported by said outer column through saidcoupling members, another of said outer coupling members also comprising a shoulder surrounding said inner. column, spring means for resiliently supporting another of said inner coupling members from said last-mentioned shoulder whereby a portion of the weight of'said inner column is resiliently supported from said outer column through said spring means, and a plurality of bearing members within said inner column for centering said shaft therein.

4. A deep well pump as described in claim 2 in which the means for supporting the inner coupling member comprises a compression coil spring surrounding the inner column and reacting between the shoulder on the spider and a shoulder on the inner coupling.

ALADAR HOLLANDER. 

